Link Aggregation (“LAG”) allows multiple parallel network links between a first device and a second device to be treated as a single network link. The aggregated link will appear as a logical link that has a higher capacity than any of the individual network links. Each individual network link in the aggregated link may be referred to as a “LAG member.” A bi-directional LAG, is often implemented as a pair of optical fibers: one fiber on which to transmit (TX); and the other fiber on which to receive (RX). Notably, it is generally understood that many routers and switches do not support bidirectional use of fibers. Conventionally, to save expense, routers and switches do not provide support for using the TX fiber for receiving or using the RX fiber for transmitting. The hardware used to allow for bidirectional flow on a fiber is considered to be expensive and, given that the capacity of the fiber is reduced, generally not worth the expense.
Given 2N fibers between two devices, the common choice for bandwidth between the two devices, when using typical routers and switches, is N in one direction and N in the other direction. When using typical routers and switches, asymmetric use of the bandwidth is not permitted.